Iceland's second oldest person: No key to longevity

Guðrún Straumfjörð celebrates her birthday at the Sóltún nursing home where she will be indulging in cakes and coffee. mbl.is/RAX

Guðrún Straumfjörð is Iceland's second oldest Icelander and is celebrating her 106th birthday today. She was born on May 24th, 1911, a few weeks before the University of Iceland was founded.

Straumfjörð was born and raised in Reykjavik and worked for over forty years as a cashier for the state shipping company. She was married to wholesaler Ólafur Þórðarson who died in 1977 and they had one son, Jón Þ.Ólafsson, athlete and office manager.

Among the many things Straumfjörð has experienced in her life are being infected with the Spanish flu in 1918, being one of the first guests to the glamorous Hótel Borg in 1930 and attending the Marlene Dietrich concert in Iceland in 1944 during Iceland's US occupation in WW2.

Speaking to today's Morgunblaðið Straumfjörð is asked about the key to longevity. "I used to say that it's because I don't eat fruit or vegetables. But that's rubbish of course. There's no key to longevity. It's just luck."

She added that she just hope to be able to stay in relatively good health for the remainder of her life and would like to wish all good things to all Icelanders in their lives.